Letting the Truth Out
by Stranger In A Normal Land
Summary: Everyone's been keeping a secret, and Ranma's sick of it. But, how can he let the truth be known?
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: Someday, I WILL own Ranma, and you will all bow to me! Bow, slaves, bow!  
  
Letting the Truth Out  
  
Ranma woke up. This, in and of itself, was not remarkable. It happens several times in an average day. However, there were some unusual aspects to it, on this particular occasion. First of all, it was odd that no one woke him up. As he sleeps in the same room as a loudly snoring panda, he has a great deal of trouble getting to sleep, and is usually woken up by said panda, or one of his fiancees, well before he would have finished his 8 hours of sleep. Second, he was awake EARLY, which was nearly unheard of, again due to a certain snoring panda which kept him awake long into the night. However, this was almost certainly attributable to the fact that there was, in fact, no snoring panda in his room.  
  
These things dawned on his mind, as he was still in the process of waking up. A few moments later, he remembered why; Akane had announced, last night, that she was cooking dinner, and both his and her respective fathers had decided to go on a weeklong training trip. He briefly wondered why they decided to leave for a full week, but he wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth, and so, promptly dismissed such thoughts.  
  
He got dressed, and went to practice in the dojo for a while. After a brief warmup, and some katas, he decided to take a bath, as he would surely get his daily workout later, when he would, as usual, get attacked by someone or another.  
  
Some time later, he was cleaned up, and feeling quite relaxed from his bath, and he went upstairs to grab his schoolbag, so it would be downstairs when it was time to leave for school. As he exited the room he and his father shared, Akane came out of her room, still wearing pajamas, and carrying a contented looking p-chan. 'Boy, does she look cute like that.', he thought briefly, before noticing a certain pig, at which time, he continued thinking, only on a rather different subject. 'I really hate that Ryoga does that. It's not right. I wish I could keep him from doing it, but if I try anything, Akane will get mad at me for picking on P-chan. I should tell her, but I promised I wouldn't tell anyone about his curse. Grrrr.'  
  
Deciding to ignore it for the time being, he instead said good morning to her, and continued downstairs. A few minutes later, while soaking in the furo, Akane's eyes widened as she realized what had happened, and she wondered, 'since when does he say good morning? It's almost like he was being nice to me...', only to have her mind wander as she fantasized about him being nicer to her. (What can I say? She's weird like that.)  
  
Regardless, as breakfast wasn't yet ready, he decided to go for a run. This, of course, means that he went roof-hopping, but that's kinda the same thing. By the time he returned, breakfast was ready, and so the 4 people present (5 if you count a certain porkchop) sat down to begin their day with a meal. As he ate, he noticed Akane feeding tidbits to "p-chan", and this irked him. Again, however, in an usual display of good judgement, he decided to let it pass, for the moment.  
  
Shortly, he and Akane left for school. Again, this was unusual; not because they left together (they almost always did), or because he walked on the fence (he always did), but, rather, because it was nearly 30 minutes earlier than usual, and so they were able to walk leisurely. They made small-talk as they walked (he'd finally begun improving at this), and so they had a fairly pleasant conversation. However, Akane kept referring to cute things P-chan did this morning, or the other day, and completely missed the twitch Ranma's eye acquired every time she mentioned her beloved pet.  
  
However, she did notice that he wasn't talking as much as he had been earlier. "Ranma? You ok?" she asked, worriedly. "Huh? Yah, just thinkin'." he replied, absentmindedly. Indeed, he was thinking, and here were his thoughts: 'The pig has got to go. I've put up with this for far too long, and I can't stand it any more. Akane needs to know, if only so that he won't sleep with her anymore. I can't stand him doing that to her, abusing her trust, and my honor. But... what can I do about it?'  
  
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Author's Notes:  
  
Yeah, yeah, Ranma revealing Ryoga's curse isn't an original idea. Yeah, yeah, my writing sucks. Blah blah blah. All right, couple'a things. This is going to take a while to write, because Ranma is going to have a bunch of "bright" ideas, and I've only come up with the first 2, and the last one x_x. If you've got a suggestion for something stupid he might try, email it to me at stranger_in_a_normal_land@yahoo.com . Who knows? I might even use your idea (if I do, I'll credit you in the Author's Notes. Give blame where blame is due, and all that ;-) ).  
  
Second, I was told by someone (who shall remain nameless) that he felt that this wasn't as good writing as Layers of Truth. Lest I hear anymore complaints on the subject, I have something for you to keep in mind. This is a COMEDY. A Comedy generally relies on humorous situations, and an informal manner, to amuse the reader. Layers of Truth, being a more serious work, relies on a writing style which emphasises quality, to hold the reader's interest. All of my comedies will suck, and this is (more or less) intentional. Although I will do my utmost to ensure a high standard of grammar, spelling, and formatting (because it pisses me off when I find a story which I can't read/enjoy because of one of those, and because it comes naturally to me), the main idea of this story is to amuse and entertain.  
  
Oh, and you should all review this (and my other) stories. If you don't, I'll keep writing if you hate my stories, and stop writing if you like 'em :-p 


	2. Ranma's Bright Idea 1

Disclaimer: When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are  
  
Anything your heart desires will come to you  
  
If your heart is in your dreams, no request is too extreme  
  
When you wish upon a star as dreamers do  
  
(Fate is kind, she brings to those who love  
  
The sweet fulfillment of their secret longing)  
  
Like a bolt out of the blue, fate steps in and sees you thru  
  
When you wish upon a star, your dreams come true  
  
Alas, I still don't own Ranma ½.  
  
Letting the Truth Out  
  
Ranma's Bright Idea #1  
  
Ranma had thought long and hard about it, and had finally come up with a plan. It seemed like a good one, too. He would fight Ryoga, and beat him (like always), and force him to stop being p-chan, and stay away from Akane. Yes, it was a good plan. Yet something was bothering him, and he wasn't quite sure what. Well, it must've been about something else. He'd worry about it later. Now, to find Ryoga...  
  
He pondered how to find the Lost Boy as he walked along a fence on the far side of Nerima from the Tendo dojo. He then nearly fell off the fence, when he heard the familiar cry of "Where on Earth am I now?", which he estimated came from about a block away. Moments later, he rounded a corner, to see his target reading a street sign. For a second, he wondered why Ryoga would even bother looking at street signs, since it didn't seem to help in the least. However, he put this aside for later consideration, as he proceeded with his plan.  
  
"Hibiki Ryoga, prepare to die!" Ranma cried as he leaped at the unaware lost boy. Ryoga started to turn, too slowly to block, but Ranma failed to follow through with his attack, and simply landed next to Ryoga. "Why in the world did I just yell that?" he mused, puzzled. Ryoga chuckled. "Now you know how I feel." after a moment, he continued, "I have no idea why. It just... feels right, somehow." he shrugged.  
  
Right then, in a rare burst of insight, Ranma realized what was bothering him. This was a really, really dumb idea. It was disrespectful to Akane, treating her like property, and not considering her feelings, and wasn't a long-term solution to the problem. Furthermore, it was bullying to beat him to keep him away from Akane. In fact, he noticed a disturbing similarity between this idea, and the stupid ideas Kuno came up with. A moment later, he realized that this was not limited to the psuedo-samaurai; it was very similar to the sorts of plans which were come up with by the amazons, Ryoga, Gosunkugi... and, hmmm...   
  
However, he still hadn't had a good practice bout today. "So, Ryoga, how 'bout a sparring session?" he asked, casually. "I was hoping you'd say that." Ryoga replied, cracking his knuckles. "Ranma! Because of you, I've seen hell!" he cried, at he leaped at Ranma. Ranma almost started to laugh, but then something occurred to him. "Seen hell? You sleep in Akane's bed, you pig!" he yelled, lunging at the leaping lost boy.  
  
This didn't go unnoticed by the hapless Ryoga. 'He seems really upset about that... uh-oh... he couldn't have decided that he has feelings for her? Crap!' he thought. "Ranma! You won't steal Akane from me!" he yelled. "Shi Shi Hokodan!" he cried, firing his trademark depression-based blast. Ranma simply twisted out of the way in midair. "She isn't 'yours' to begin with, pig-boy!" he replied angrily, with a round kick to his opponent's back, which sent him into the pavement below. 


	3. Ranma's Bright Idea 2

Disclaimer: Dis not be mine, homie, 'less I gank it from Takahashi, yo. Word.  
  
Letting the Truth Out  
  
Ranma's Bright Idea #2  
  
Sometime later, Ranma walked home, his shirt a bit scuffed, with a couple of cuts and scratches, and rather dirty. He had left Ryoga unconsious in an empty lot several blocks from most of the large craters and property damage they had left in their wake. For a few seconds, he thought about the damage that his fights so often inflicted, and who cleaned it up and repaired it. Then, it occurred to him that it was a stimulation of the local economy by providing jobs for construction workers, and he dismissed it. Now, back to the imporant issue: how to get rid of 'p-chan' once and for all...  
  
Then, it hit him like the proverbial ton of bricks. This plan would work perfectly. After all, he'd promised to not tell anyone about the curse; he'd never said anything about SHOWING them the curse. The next time Ryoga came to the Tendo dojo, he'd put his plan into effect. Just then, it started to rain. Ignoring the downpour, he walked home, whistling merrily.  
  
After a short walk, he arrived home, and was preparing to take a nice, hot, soak in the furo, when Akane came downstairs, and noticed that he was soaking wet. "Ranma?" She asked. "Yah, Akane?" replied the soaking wet female. "Is it raining hard?" She probed. "y'know, I wasn't really payin' that much attention... yeah, pretty steadily, I guess." Ranma responded. "Oh dear! Have you seen p-chan around?" the dark-haired girl continued, worriedly. "Er... no, but I just got home." Ranma replied, thrown off by the unexpected question. "Well, would you mind helping me look for him? I'm worried he might be out in this weather."   
  
Ranma facefaulted. Now this was just ridiculous. Even Akane, for all her fretting over P-chan, wasn't usually *this* overprotective. Taking her openmouthed lack of response for agreement, Akane grabbed her hand, and started to drag her up the stairs. Little did Ranma suspect that Akane was trying not to giggle at the clever way in which she'd arranged to spend time alone with Ranma.  
  
A few minutes later, they determined that, suprise suprise, the little lost pig wasn't in the house. So, out into the rain they ventured. They went through a large portion of Nerima, looking for dear, sweet, p-chan. However, it seemed that he was nowhere to be seen. Well, Ranma had an idea of where to look, but Akane would probably ask what made her look near that abandoned lot, and things would go downhill from there. She was busy pondering this subject, and failed to notice when they ended up in that part of town.  
  
Akane looked over at Ranma for the third time in the last few minutes. He was awfully quiet. And, looking at him, it seemed that he was lost in thought. "Ranma, what are you thinking about?" No response. "Ranma?" Not even a blink. "Ranma!" she yelled in her ear. THAT seemed to get her attention. "What'd ya do that for, ya kawaiikune tomboy?!?" he half-shouted. She was about to get mad, but then realized that she had a pretty good reason to be annoyed. Well, she'd let it pass... but just this once. "I was just trying to get your attention, and you didn't notice anything else." 'She was trying to get my attention?', he wondered. 'And I didn't notice anything else? I wonder what else she t... no. I won't think about that.' Slowly, it dawned on him that his fiancee was looking expectantly at him. Oh, right. "um... what did ya want, Akane?" "Well, I was just wondering what you were thinking about." she replied, blushing slightly.  
  
Now, how could she respond to that? "Oh." he replied blankly, thinking furiously. "Well, are you going to tell me?" Akane asked, resisting the urge to giggle. Ranma could be so cute, when he was clueless like that. "...yeah... I was just thinking 'bout ... where p-chan might be." he replied, figuring that while it would still probably result in him getting hurt, at least it would upset Akane AS much, and was still technically true...  
  
He turned towards the presently taller girl, wondering why he hadn't been hit yet. Akane was standing there, with an odd expression on her face. Ranma's skill at lying had not mysteriously improved, and so the lie was completely transparent to Akane. However, that he would at least try to say something to make her happy... it seemed unusually nice a thing for him to do. She was kind of waiting for her to stick her foot in her mouth, as only Ranma could do, but the redhead seemed content, for once, to leave it at that.  
  
As they continued searching in the rain, Ranma mentally sighed in relief. She seemed to have bought it. He tried not to let his relief show, but, being Ranma, he was pretty much an open book. Fortunately, Akane was too caught up in the afterglow of Ranma being nice to notice. Not that she'd admit it, of course. No, if anyone asked, she was just looking for p-chan. Not enjoying a walk in the rain with her fiancee at all.  
  
As they passed by craters, and various debris, Akane wondered if Ranma was responsible for the destruction. When she asked, the shorter girl replied "Ah, Ryoga 'tacked me earlier, but, in the middle of our sparring, he turned a corner, and I couldn' find him after that." "He attacked you? What'd you do to provoke him?" she asked, immediately regretting it, when she saw the hurt look in his eyes. "Nothin', alright? I didn't do nothin' to him." He stomped off, trying to avoid an outright fight. He really didn't want to fight wiht Akane today. As Ranma stomped off, a black blur attached itself to his ankle with an angry 'bwee'. Ranma stopped and detached the piglet from his leg, then held him out by his bandanna, and said "Oh, here's your precious P-chan.", with a disgusted snort. She came and took the the angry pet from the temporary girl, who then hopped up to a nearby fence, preparing to jump to the roofs.  
  
"Ranma, wait!" Akane said, feeling bad about insulting Ranma when he hadn't done anything. She stopped, suprised, and turned around. "Could you come here a minute?" she asked, not wanting to talk to him while he was on the fence. After a moment, he hopped off the fence, landing a couple feet from her. "What is it?" She almost added,'didja want ta blame me for somethin' else I didn' do?', but, defying the odds, managed to keep his foot firmly out of his mouth more than once in a day. He was rewarded with a smile, and Akane said, "I'm sorry for blaming your fight with Ryoga on you. I guess I'm just a bit used to blaming you for everything." Ranma simply shrugged, and said, "Don't worry 'bout it. Let's go get some hot water, 'kay?" Akane giggled and nodded. Then, p-chan and Ranma both froze. Did Akane just GIGGLE to Ranma? Akane wondered the same thing, but mentally shrugged, and decided that, if Ranma wasn't acting like a jerk, why couldn't she act cute?  
  
The next day, Ranma's plan was all set. It had taken a while, but his plan to expose Ryoga was foolproof. He'd carefully arranged a bucket of hot water above Akane's door, to tip and pour on her as she left her room. He'd planned it carefully, and, when he changed in her arms, she'd realize Ryoga was P-chan. He'd slept unusually peacefully that night.  
  
He woke up to a bucket of cold water being poured on him. He sprang up, seeing Akane dripping water onto the floor. "What'd ya do that for, ya tomboy?" he yelled, as he usually did when she poured cold water on him. "I was wondering why you did it to me this morning! And I thought you were being nice yesterday, you jerk!" She yelled, and then threw the bucket at his head before storming out of the guest room. A moment later, Nabiki was standing in the doorway, one eyebrow raised. "Some free advice, Saotome: If you leave water out overnight, it cools off." Then she too was gone.  
  
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Author's notes:Yep, that was Ranma's second plan. What'll he come up with next? I have no idea! That's right, I don't have a clue. If you have an idea, you email it to me. Otherwise, I'll have to sit here for a while, and try to imagine another idiotic scheme for him to dream up. For those worried about serious brain damage from bashing your head against a wall every time he comes up with another stupid scheme, don't worry, he'll start to get a little brighter. Anyhow, that's all for this installment. See you next time!  
  
Oh, and please review my story. Pwetty pwease? 


	4. Contemplation, Motion, Opposition

Disclaimer: There once was a man from Nantucket. I am not that man. Oh, and I don't own Ranma, either. Poor me! *sob*  
  
Letting the Truth Out  
  
Contemplation, Motion, Opposition  
  
Ranma sat by the koi pond, meditating. Which is to say, he was moping. How could he have not realized that the water would cool off overnight? Sheesh, talk about overlooking the obvious. Now how could he expose Ryoga, without breaking his oath? As he sat, he heard a knock at the door. A few moments passed, and the door opened. He heard Kasumi greet the visitor, and a familiar voice say, "Greetings, o beateous flower. Alas, I am not here to date with thee. I am here for my loves, Tendo Akane, and the pig-tailed girl." "Oh my, well, why don't you come in, and I'll go get Ranma and Akane." "Very well. I enter!"  
  
Inwardly, Ranma groaned. What stupidity was Kuno up to today? Oh well, he'd just have to get Kuno outside, and knock the jerk across town. After all, the Tendos wouldn't be too happy to have yet another hole put in the roof. As he pondered this, the shogi doors opened, and Kasumi leaned out.  
  
"Ranma, that nice Kuno boy is here again. He says he would like 'to date with you'. Would you like to come inside and speak with him?" Ranma thought for a moment, and replied, "Nah, Kasumi, that's all right, just tell him I'm out in tha yard." "All right. I'm sure he'll be out in a minute." She leaned back inside, and the door closed. A moment passed. Then another. '3...2...1...' Ranma mumbled to himself, counting down to... the shogi door flew open, and Kuno was standing there, his arms spread. "Pigtailed girl! Fly into mine arms!" he cried, and then looked around. "Saotome. Where have you hidden my pig-tailed girl?" He paused dramatically a moment, during which time Ranma thought 'He's seen WAY too many samaurai movies.' "No matter! I shall destroy thee, and then the pig-tailed girl shall be free from thine clutches, so that she may date with me!" He drew his everpresent bokken, and lunged.  
  
Ranma continued sitting on the rock until the last moment, at which time he pushed himself up on his hands, and twisted his body so that he was in an inverted 'L' shape, which he used to launch an upside-down round kick, which passed under Kuno's raised arms, to catch him squarely in the chest, sending him sailing over the house, and off into the distance. Ranma then lowered himself back to a sitting position, and continued to think.  
  
'Stupid Kuno, trying to fight me when he can't even hit me. At least Ryoga can usually hit me a couple... hmmm...' he thought, his thoughts becoming unknown to the readers just in time to keep them from learning his next stupid plan, and so forcing them to keep reading to find out.  
  
Almost an hour later, Ranma was still sitting on the rock by the koi pond, lost in thought. He had a plan, but it required an appearance by Ryoga. But, how could he possibly ensure the arrival of the Eternal Lost Boy? Just then, he heard the call to battle: "Everyone, Dinner is ready!" He paused a moment, wondering why Kasumi just yelled it out, instead of going and telling everyone individually, like usual. Then he shrugged, got up, and went inside. After all, he was a growing boy.  
  
After dinner, Akane reminded him that he had agreed to study for their upcoming math test that night. He shrugged, and told her he had to get his books. She told him to meet her in her room, then left the table. As she left, Akane tried to stifle a laugh. Of course, Ranma hadn't paid enough attention in class to know that there was a test coming up, much less agreed to study with her for it. However, as soon as she "reminded" him, he'd assumed he'd done so, and simply forgotten. It was really too easy to get to spend time with him. If only he were more romantic, and not such a jerk. She shook her head, and headed up to her room, to await her fiancee.  
  
A few minutes later, she heard a knock on her door, and said, "Come in!". She heard the door open, and, a moment later, close again. Of course, it was Ranma; who ELSE was that quiet, without thinking about it? She turned to ask him if he was ready to study, only to accidentally push too hard on the back of her chair. A weak section of wood in one of the back legs splintered, and the entire chair collapsed. As she started to fall, Ranma's eyes widened, and he lept forward. He managed to catch her, but, in the process, got hit by the heavy back of the chair as it fell. Instead of rebounding off the desk as he had intended, he hit the desk with his shoulder, and landed heavily on the floor, still safely nestling Akane in his arms.  
  
Akane realized that she had not hit the floor, right about the time Ranma hit the desk. She then realized that she was on top of him, one of his arms under her knees, the other under her back, her head nestled between the shoulder that hadn't hit the desk, and his neck. Just then, he asked, "You okay, Akane?" she nodded, and started to sit up. However, before she could, the wall on the other side of the window burst inward. As the dust started to clear, Shampoo stepped in, and cried, "Ayiaa! What violent girl doing to Airen?" For a moment, both Ranma and Akane were speechless, wondering the same thing: how had Shampoo known to enter the house through Akane's room, and, more importantly, how had she made her usual entrance from the SECOND FLOOR? Then, they both remembered the occasion where Shampoo had brought Ranma p-chan for lunch, and how she'd done it to the 3rd floor of the school, and finally realized what Shampoo had just said.   
  
A moment later, Akane was sitting on her desk, and Ranma was standing by the door. "Nothin', Shampoo. Her chair jus' broke, an' I caught her to break her fall!" Shampoo looked suspicious a moment, but then returned to her usual bubbly self, and glomped Ranma. "Airen take Shampoo on date?" she asked, as she molded herself to Ranma's body. "Uh, I can't. I have to...study... for my math test." he replied, grasping for an excuse. "Math test later. Date now." she replied,still pressing herself to him.  
  
"I can't!" he protested, and paused a moment, then continued, "Hey, Shampoo, how did you know where I was?" Shampoo looked uncomfortable a moment, then replied, "Was on walk, and decide to visit Airen!" He looked suspicious, or as suspicious as one can look while trying to pry the subject of said suspicion off of one. "yes, but how did you know where I was?" he asked again. "Um, Shampoo see airen through window?" she responded nervously. "But, how did you know which window to look in?" he further questioned. "Shampoo guess lucky" the aforementioned amazon weaseled, and further did her best to worm under his clothing through sheer force of glomp. Finally, he broke free from her embrace, and said, "you weren't spying on Akane in preparation of attacking her AGAIN, were you?"  
  
Attempting to reattach herself much like a leech, she replied, "Nooooo... Shampoo not do such thing.", and tried to look innocent. Just then, a glass of cold water was dumped on her. "Then why don't you go back to the Nekohanten, Shampoo? It's getting late, and we need to study." "C-C-C-C-CAAAT!!!" Ranma cried, leaping just below the ceiling, to land on the desk behind the now standing (and quaking with anger) Akane. The purple feline launched herself at her love, only to be intercepted by a large textbook wielded by Akane, which redirected her out the hole in the wall. The furious Akane then turned to the cowering martial artist. "This is your fault, you know! If you hadn't grabbed me when I fell, she wouldn't have broken in, and bothered me! What on earth possessed you to do that, anyhow?" He regained enough wits to reply, "You were falling backwards." She replied, "So?" her eyes promising great pain.  
  
In response, he merely pointed. Her gaze following where he was pointing, she looked again at the wreckage of the chair. Right behind the collapsed seat was the splintered rear leg, it's jagged edge still pointing almost straight up. Seeing that, all of her anger suddenly drained, as did the strength in her legs. She dropped to her knees, nearly in shock at realizing how close she had been to a serious injury.  
  
Almost instantly, Ranma was squatting beside her, his hand on her shoulder. "Akane, are you okay?" he asked. She turned to look at him, only to realize that their faces were only a few inches apart. Their eyes met, and each seemed hypnotized by the other. Slowly, they drew closer. 'Is he going to kiss me?', Akane wondered, already knowing the answer. Unconsiously, their lips began to pucker in anticipation. Closer, and closer they drew, until...  
  
Suddenly, the door burst open, and Tendo Soun was standing there. Quickly taking in the broken chair, crumbled wall, and kneeling Akane, he turned to Ranma, who had lept over near the hole as soon as he'd heard the door open. He cried, "What did you do to my little girl?!" Ranma and Akane both facefaulted.  
  
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Author's Notes: Feh. I wanted to make this more of a cliffhanger, but it didn't turn out this way. By the way, the title of this chapter comes from book 6, during the Breaking Point storyline, when Ranma uses the Saotome Secret Technique. The explanation of the Saotome Secret Technique says, "...is founded upon the tenets of "motion", "contemplation", and "opposition"." I rearranged 'em 'cause it starts out with Ranma contemplating, then moves to motion, then moves to opposition near the end. I couldn't come up with a name for this chapter, since, although Ranma comes up with his next "bright" idea in this chapter, it didn't get implemented yet. For some reason, I thought of the Saotome Secret Technique, but, somehow, that didn't seem an appropriate chapter title for this, so I looked at that part of the manga, instead.  
  
Oh, and you thought they would kiss? Never! Bwa ha ha ha ha! Well... maybe eventually. But definitely not now. After the next chapter, I'm gonna be stuck again. Then again, this last time I was stuck lasted less than 24 hours, so I could still have chapter...6 (!) up tomorrow. Wow. 5 chapters. Yeah, it doesn't seem like much, but, for me, this is quite long. Ah, well, 'till next time!  
  
Oh, and review this story. You know you want to. 


	5. Setup

Disclaimer: I pity da fool who thinks I own Ranma ½!  
  
Letting the Truth Out  
  
Setup  
  
Ranma was lying in bed. He was not asleep. A little over an hour ago, he had almost kissed Akane. Again. In fact, if their fathers hadn't returned home until tomorrow, like they were supposed to have, they would have kissed. It seemed like, whenever they were about to come to an understanding, or show affection, or anything, someone showed up. He thought back to shortly before the near kiss, when he'd saved her from being imapled when her chair broke. As he'd lain on his back with her in his arms, she had relaxed when she realized that she was in his arms, almost as if she enjoyed being there. And, then, of course, Shampoo showed up. Then, he remembered something from earlier in the day. He'd just come up with his latest, greatest, plan to reveal p-chan to Akane, and was wondering how to intentionally get Ryoga to show up while he was prepared. Suddenly, it all came together.  
  
No more screw-ups. This time, it would work. Ryoga would be forced to give up his act as p-chan. No more keeping secrets from Akane, no more impotent raging as both her honor and his own were abused. And maybe, if it went just right, he'd have a chance to work on his relationship with Akane. Less mallets, skillets, fists, tables, chairs, books, weights, vases, paperweights, and so forth, would certainly be nice. With that in mind, he managed to get to sleep, in spite of the loudly snoring panda near him.  
  
However, just because he managed to get to sleep at a decent time for once, didn't mean he didn't dream about pandas being hit repeatedly and painfully with rather large mallets. In his sleep, he smiled happily. Several feet away, a certain panda briefly winced, and shuddered in his sleep, for no appearant reason.  
  
Due to nice, pleasant dreams, and a restful amount of sleep, Ranma maintained his disturbing streak of waking up early, and was, for a moment confused as to why he felt a shiver run up his spine. Then he realized that his recent habit of waking up early was creeping even himself out. Then, he noticed a certain furball still lying asleep nearby. He grinned evilly, and cracked his knuckles. Payback time.  
  
Moments later, a large, black-and-white shape hit the koi pond, and sat up dripping. "Browr?" It then held up a sign: [What'd you do that for, boy?] Ranma smirked as he landed softly below the window. "C'mon pops, it's time for morning training!" [It's too early! I wanna go back to bed!] "No can do, pops, I wouldn't want to lose my edge, right?"   
  
The panda growfed a couple times, before waking up enough to get a good sense of what was going on. Then it's eyes widened, as it held up a sign. [Oh no! Stay away, boy!] This, of course only elicited a menacing chuckle from Ranma. "What's the matter, old man? Scared you'll get beaten by me?" he asked. [I'm warning you! Stay away!] the next sign read. As Ranma advanced towards the panda, it backed out of the pond, and flipped the sign around so that the other side was now visible. [I know karate!] Ranma raised an eyebrow in response. "Yeah, pops? In case yer memory is slippin' due ta old age, I've been trainin' with ya for over 10 years, now, an' I'm a lot better at it than ya." The next sign came up. [Well, it was worth a shot.]  
  
By this time, Ranma was barely out of reach of his cowering, panda-shaped father. Once again, the large animal held up a sign. [You're still too slow to beat me, boy!] it read, only to be swung at the seemingly unprepared martial artist.   
  
However, said martial artist was not there when the sign impacted. Rather, he was on one foot, about a foot closer and to the left of the sign, and he executed a perfect, if relatively weak, side kick into his father's hip, sending him staggering. [You're getting weak! Maybe you should just stay a girl!] the next sign read. The panda quickly considered that bit of goading, when he saw Ranma stop a moment, assessing his father.  
  
"Y'know, pops, I was simply gonna spar with you like usual, an' get some small measure of revenge by thrashing your furry behind all across the Tendo's yard, here, but ya've got me thinkin'." He paused, maliciously. "So, here I stand, considerin' what ta do with ya. On the one hand, you're my old man, and ya've taught be to be the best there is at the Art, an' I owe ya a lot for that. On tha other hand, I've rarely, if ever, recieved a word of encouragement from ya. In fact, you've engaged me ta dozens of girls, gotten me cursed, insulted me at every turn, an' tried to make me take responsibility for your stupid decisions. An' that's jus' for starters."  
  
By now, a large sweat drop had appeared on the panda's head, and it was backing away slowly, it's paws in front of it in a warding-off gesture. Ranma's smirk got larger than normal, and, after pausing to crack his knuckles, he finished, "Ya know, pops, I really think I'm gonna enjoy this." With that, he sprang at the hapless panda, visions of various panda contortions dancing in his head. Well, let it never be said that Ranma doesn't turn his dreams into reality.  
  
Some time later, Kasumi stepped out of the house, to inform the Saotomes that breakfast was ready. Surveying the craters in the yard, the shattered boulder by the koi pond, and the numerous damaged parts of the outer wall, she quickly took action in her most Kasumi-like manner. "Oh, my. I suppose I'd better call the contractor," she decided. Then, noticing the twisted lump of flesh that vaguely resembled a panda, she hastily added, "and doctor Tofu. Oh, and perhaps an ambulence." This decided, she returned inside to use the phone, ignoring the tortured whimpers the panda emitted when she mentioned the lovestruck doctor. Having realized what Kasumi had assuredly come outside to do, Ranma got up from his meditation atop one of the undamaged rocks by the koi pond. "Well, pops, I'm goin' in for breakfast. See ya later. Maybe I'll even visit ya in the hospital. I'm sure you'd do tha same for me." Then he left to get his morning meal.  
  
A couple hours later, while daydreaming in some class or another (a quick glance at the board revealed it to be history), he decided that he should put his latest plan into action as soon as possible. After all, he had long ago been taught that, 'to he that hesitates, all is lost'. Sure, it got him in a lot of trouble, through his tendency to say things he ought not to, but it had also saved him (and others) on more than a couple of occasions. Glancing over at Akane, he noticed her studiously taking notes, her brow furrowed, a slight frown of concentration on her face (or was she still mad about the damage to the yard that morning?), her tongue unconsciously poking out slightly from between her lips. 'Man, she can be cute, sometimes.', he thought. 'Too bad I'll never be able to tell her without putting my health and her life at risk.' He sighed audibly. "I'm sorry, Mr. Saotome, am I boring you? Perhaps holding buckets out in the hall would be more interesting? Why don't you find out." The teacher said, somehow hearing the solitary sigh over his own lecture.  
  
Ranma shrugged, picked up 2 buckets from the corner, and went out to the hall, grateful for the chance to do something other than just sit. As he stood in the hall, waiting for the class to end, he remembered that he had decided to put his plan into action. That meant finding Akane during lunch. Well, at least lunch was next, he remembered. His course of action decided, he waited.  
  
Finally, the bell rang, signalling the end of the class, and the beginning of lunch. Before anyone had a chance to do anything other than close their books, he had returned the buckets, having not spilled a single drop of water, and was collecting his school supplies from his desk. Moments later, he was beside Akane's desk. "C'mon, Akane, it's a nice day out. Let's eat outside." he said. She gave him an odd look, but nodded. As soon as he got an affirmative response, he had her in his arms, both their bags over his shoulder, and he lept out the window. This merited a momentary odd glance from Ukyo, but she figured it involved a new challenge of some sort. 'Of course,' she thought, 'I haven't seen Ran-chan much in the last few days. Maybe I'll stop by today. After all, he might be able to use some help with this challenge...' Her plan of action settled in her mind, she went to set up her lunchtime okonomyaki stand.  
  
A few minutes later, Ranma and Akane had settled under a tree to each their lunches, still blushing from their close proximity a short time before. Neither of them spoke, however; Ranma was busy devouring his lunch with inhuman speed, and Akane was too busy puzzling over his behaviour. 'He's been unusually nice for the last couple days, aside from that bucket of water. What's he up to? Maybe he's really just trying to be nice. I'd like that. But, he's never done it before; why now?' Finally, she decided to ask. "Ranma?" she queried. "mmmph?" he replied vaguely, trying to communicate around the large quantity of food currently in his mouth. She waited until he had swallowed before continuing. "Are you okay? You've been, well, nice, most of the week." "Gee, Akane, I'm sorry for being nice. And hey, you said that like I'm a jerk all the time!" he replied, starting to get mad. Realizing she said the wrong thing, and that he hadn't even earned it, she replied, "Sorry, Ranma, I didn't mean it like that. You can be a jerk sometimes, but you're usually not that bad. But you've been unusually nice recently." Meanwhile, Ranma was in a mild state of shock. 'Akane just... apologized... to me? Is the world ending or something?', he wondered. Observing that it seemed to be continuing as ever, he shrugged. 'Well, I could get used to her being nice like this.', he decided. 'Well, I guess it's time to follow my plan.' "Umm, Akane?" he asked quietly  
  
This aroused her curiousity even further. He had a very serious look about him, as if what he were about to say was very important. Wondering what he had to say, she replied, "Yes, Ranma?" "There's, uh, something I need to talk to you about." He continued, blushing, and also fidgeting. Akane, on the other hand, was stunned. She was almost positive he was going to tell her he loved her. Or... he was going to tell her he didn't want anything to do with her. But she couldn't bear to think about that. So, she asked expectantly, "What is it, Ranma?" In reply, he shook his head. "Not now. There's too many people around. How about later this evening, like after dinner?" She was a bit puzzled for a moment, and then realized just who might overhear. Well, she'd been waiting over a year, she supposed a few hours more wouldn't hurt. "o-okay." she answered, eliciting a sigh of relief from him. Shortly, their lunches finished, they returned to class.  
  
The rest of the day seemed to pass in a blur for both Ranma and Akane. And, at the same time, it seemed to crawl along as if the evening would never arrive. When they got home, Ranma began to make preparations for the execution of his plan, and Akane tried to practice in the dojo, but couldn't keep her concentration, and so went to her room and wrote in her diary. Finally, dinner came, and they both tried to act normal. Of course, sitting next to each other at the table, they were jumping whenever they brushed against each other, and blushing furiously, but Soun and Genma were busy plotting to get them married, and, for once, Nabiki was caught up enough in her own scheming that she didn't seem to notice. Neither of them had much of an appetite, though (well, proportional to normal. Ranma still ate like it was to be his last meal.), and, shortly, announced that they were finished. Knowing their fathers, Akane announced that she was going for a walk, and waited for Soun to insist that Ranma join her. It took slightly longer than she expected, but insist he did. Ranma, for his part, quietly agreed to go, and within moments, they were standing outside the gates of the house.  
  
Akane finally couldn't stand it any more. "So, Ranma, what did you want to talk about?" He waved his hands, trying to shush her. "Not here!" he hissed. She was about to question him further, but, instead, he swept her up into his arms, and bounded off across the rooftops. Moments later, Ukyo stepped out of the nearby shadows. Her eyes narrowed, she said to herself, "How dare Akane try to steal MY Ranchan! I'll teach her!", when out stepped Nabiki. "I'll make a deal with you. Rather than trying to follow Ranma-kun, I can tell you where to find them, but only because I want to be there, too. Oh, and it'll cost you 2000 yen." Ukyo nodded, and bent forward so the other girl could piggyback on her. Shortly, she was roof-hopping in a different direction.  
  
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Author's Notes:  
  
Ha,a cliffhanger!Finally, another chapter done. This one took a while, 'cause I was busy, wasn't entirely sure what all would happen, and I wasn't sure how to write what I was sure would happen. So, the title of this one is "setup", as in the setup of a joke. In case you haven't figured out that something will go horribly wrong, you'll understand soon enough. If you're wondering how this works towards Ranma's goal of exposing P-Chan, then, well, you aren't familiar enough with the series. Hopefully, Chapter 6 will be up today or tomorrow. Until then!  
  
Oh, and, as always, leave a review. Please? 


	6. Ranma's Bright Idea 3

Disclaimer: Okay, okay, so I DON'T own Ranma ½. Happy?  
  
Letting the Truth Out  
  
Ranma's Bright Idea #3  
  
After a long, circuituous route to throw off anyone who might be trying to follow them, Ranma made his way towards the woods behind Furinkan. When they arrived, he set Akane down near the largest hill in the area. "So. Now we can talk," she said, "but what did you want to talk to me about?" He took a deep breath, and realized that, now that it came down to it, he was nearly petrified. But, he knew, he had to do it. Reminding himself of his plan, he started, "Well, Akane, there's somethin' I've wanted ta tell ya for a while, now..." She looked at him, her eyes shining, "Yes, Ranma?" "Well, Akane, I thought ya should know that I..." He stopped. "You what?" She asked, feeling a twinge of irritation. Why couldn't he just say whatever it was? Taking a deep breath, he took her small hands in his much larger ones, looked into her eyes, and started again, "Akane, I lo..." He was interrupted by a cry of "Ranma! Prepare to die!"  
  
A few dozen feet away, and about 30 seconds before, Ukyo glared at Nabiki. "I thought you said you knew where they were going!" she hissed angrily. In reponse, Nabiki shrugged. "I knew approximately where they're going. We just have to find them." she whispered back. Suddenly, they heard a familiar cry of "Ranma! Prepare to die!", and ran towards where Ryoga had just found Ranma and Akane.  
  
Ranma pushed Akane to one side and jumped to the other, keeping both of them out of the way of Ryoga's umbrella. Akane was beyond angry. She knew that Ranma had been about to tell her he loved her, and here Ryoga came and interfered! As Ranma dodged, she summoned her mallet, and prepared to flatten Ryoga, when Ranma suddenly leapt towards her.  
  
As Ranma dodged Ryoga's blows, he prepared to make his move, when suddenly, he sensed that something was wrong. He glanced, but nothing was heading towards him. However, several things were heading towards Akane. Rebounding off the ground, he leapt forward and pushed her out of the way so that the things, sharpened spatulas, he noticed, would miss her. He twisted in mid-air to avoid them himself, but several of them hit the water balloons he'd had concealed under his shirt. Now drenched and female, he turned to Ukyo. "Geez, Ucchan, what'd ya do that for! You coulda hurt Akane!" Realizing that Ryoga was right behind him, he ducked under the blow that, rather than nailing him in the head, whooshed above, instead. Grabbing Ryoga's arm as it passed above him, he leaned forward slightly, throwing the lost boy into a tree. Busy with this, he almost missed Ukyo reply, "That was the idea, you jackass!", as she unlimbered her battle spatula. He couldn't miss the leap she made at Akane, though.  
  
Akane was frozen, as she saw Ukyo leap at her. However, she was saved when Ranma stepped forward and grabbed the spatula in mid-air. Her grip on the spatula caused her momentum to rotate her around it, straight into the ground. "Akane!" Ranma yelled, "Get out of here. I'll hold her off!" She was about to yell back that she was a martial artist too, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned, ready to hit whoever it was, to find Nabiki standing there. "C'mon sis, let's get out of here before Ranma and Ryoga start throwing chi blasts." As if to punctuate that statement, the currently homicidal pig-boy yelled "Shishi Hokodan!" just then, and a massive blast erupted from his hands. Ranma started to handspring out of the way, but realized that he wouldn't be out of the blast if he continued. Instead, he bent his arms slightly, and then pushed off into the air. The explosion ended up almost directly below him, blasting him higher into the air, but he was nearly completely unhurt by it. Instead, he rebounded off of a thick tree branch, and, on his way down, fired a Moko Takabisha back at the lost boy. He noticed Ukyo lying dazed near the edge of the crater, and decided he could focus on Ryoga for the moment. Before attacking, he looked over and saw Akane and Nabiki leaving the impromptu battlefield. Relieved, he focused once more on fighting. Attacking from mid-air, he launched a series of punches and kicks to Ryoga's sides, bringing his opponent's guard low enough that he wasn't able to block a sudden round kick to the head as Ranma landed. Once more, he flew into a tree, this time knocking it over. Landing in a fighting stance, Ranma called to the already rising Ryoga "Bring it on, pork butt!" Ryoga growled, and the fight commenced in earnest. Soon, Ranma was trying to fend off Ryoga, while keeping Ukyo from going after Akane.  
  
Several hours later, Ranma staggered into the Tendo home, still female, dripping wet, his clothes torn nearly to tatters. He had numerous bruises and contusions. Kasumi, who had been in the kitchen, came out to greet him, and noticing the state of his clothes, remarked, "Oh my! What happened, Ranma-kun?" The redhead went into the kitchen, returning male, and slightly steaming a moment later. "Well, I guess ya know by now that I was tryin' to talk with Akane?" at her nod, he continued, "Well, Ryoga showed up. And so did Ucchan. I started fightin' 'em, and Mousse musta recognized the chi blasts. He arrived and attacked me, too. I don't know why, but Kuno showed up after that, and then Pantyhose Taro, who yelled somethin' 'bout how he saw th' others and decided it looked like fun. Shampoo arrived after that, and, got the idea of what was goin' on from what Ucchan was yellin', and I had ta keep her from goin' after Akane, too. I finally managed ta put out the lot of 'em, an' I'm goin' ta bed." Kasumi nodded, as if this was pretty much what she'd expected, smiled, and replied, "All right, Ranma-kun. Sleep well."  
  
He nodded, and started up the stairs. At the top, however, was Nabiki, her arms crossed. "All right, Saotome, we need to have a talk. My room. Now." Sighing in defeat, he followed her into her bedroom. However, instead of immediately berating him for endangering Akane, like he expected, she looked disdainfully at him a moment. "Ranma, you're an idiot, you know that?" She said. She saw his confused look, and continued, "I know what you're up to. You're trying to reveal Ryoga's curse to that dense sister of mine." At his panicked look, she said, "I respect that. But it's not gonna happen. The repair bills from the damage she'd inflict to the house in the process of injuring you and Ryoga wouldn't be worth the entertainment. Further, after she forgave you, she and you'd end up together, and, in addition to further damage to the house, afterwards, things would get boring, which means less money for me. And that is NOT going to happen. So you might as well just forget it. Understood?"  
  
To her suprise, rather than looking angry and depressed like she expected, as soon as she'd finished, he started to laugh. After a minute, he finally responded. "Nabiki, out of all tha people 'round here, you should know as well as anyone that my life is never borin'! No matter what, new challengers show up, an' the usual gang causes some problem or 'nother. I doubt that even marryin' Akane will get rid of Shampoo, Mousse, an' the old ghoul, or the constant abductions. Ya got NO cause ta worry 'bout things gettin' borin', no matter what. Even *I* figured that out a while back." And with that, he got up, and left, still chuckling, leaving a stunned Nabiki behind.  
  
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Author's Notes: Hmmm. I think that this was one of the shorter chapters, so far. However, I felt that was a good place to end it. Plus, after that scene, I really don't know what happens next yet. What will Ranma's next plan be? Damned if I know. Well, I'll try to come up with something so that it doesn't take several weeks for me to finish the next chapter(s). Hopefully, with a few ideas, I'll be set, and able to write this story through to the end. But, once I do, it's entirely possible that I'll write a sequel, at some point in the future. *shrug* We shall see. Anyhow, until I come up with more ideas for this one, I'm gonna be workin' on some other fics, so check those out. And please, review this one! 


	7. Ranma's Bright Idea 4

Disclaimer: I may not own Ranma ½, but I own a nifty collection of shiny objects. ::Beams::  
  
Letting the Truth Out  
  
Ranma's Bright Idea 4  
  
Ranma was sitting in one of his favorite spots to think about things: the roof. Once again, the plan he'd come up with to expose "p-chan" had failed. Perhaps the problem was that HE was trying to expose Ryoga, instead of getting Akane to expose him. With that in mind, a plan quickly formed. He just hoped Ryoga would make another appearance, soon. It was long past time to settle this. He wasn't sure how he was going to get Akane to forgive him afterwards, but that wasn't as important an issue.  
  
Unfortunately, Ryoga didn't make an appearance for several days after that. It seemed the jerk was never around on the rare occasion that you wanted him. He continued to be nice to Akane (well, fairly nice; he was down to only getting hit by her once in an average day), and, although she seemed sad for a couple days, she seemed to get over whatever it was pretty quickly, and they were getting along again. True, in order to keep getting along, he couldn't relax for a second, as he knew that would be when Kodachi, Shampoo, and Ukyo would ALL show up, and spoil everything, but it was worth it. It reminded him of when he first arrived in Nerima, before all the fiancees and rivals showed up.  
  
However, Ryoga always ends up back at the Tendo dojo, often when he's least expected, and, a little more than a week after he was last seen, he once again made a suprise appearance, when he walked out of the coat closet, and cried out, "Where on Earth am I?!" Being Jusenkyo cursed, he managed to trip over a bucket that Kasumi had been using to clean the floors, and was instantly reduced to his pig-form. Kasumi came back, noticed the spilled bucket, and clothes on the floor, and quickly cleaned up, never once considering what might have caused such a situation. However, a little later, she noticed P-chan sitting on the floor, and said, "Oh, P-chan! Akane will be happy that you're back. Here, let's just put you up in her room to wait for her." With that, she picked him up by the bandanna, and moved him to Akane's bed, to await her return from school.  
  
Sometime later, Akane and Ranma arrived home, talking and laughing. In fact, both were laughing so hard that tears were running down their faces. Akane, however, was trying to maintain some semblence of composure. "You know, Ranma, it's really not funny." she gasped out between guffaws. Ranma finally managed to stop laughing long enough to reply, "What are ya talkin' about? I've never seen anything that funny! I haveta wonder who thought it would be a good idea to have Miss Hinako teach Sex Ed, though." with that, he lost what little composure he had, and burst out laughing once more. Akane chuckled and replied, "Oh, and you were that much better than she was? You didn't get why everyone started laughing until you were informed that those 'balloons' were really condoms, and what they're used for, and then you nearly fainted!" As she laughed at his expense, he stuck his tongue out and replied, "Maybe, but now we know which of us is the real pervert!" and started laughing even harder as Akane blushed bright red.  
  
"Oh, Akane, Ranma, you're home." Kasumi greeted them as they came into the living room. "Yes," replied Akane, "and I agreed to help Ranma study for the english test tomorrow, since the dummy always sleeps through class." Ranma exclaimed an objection: "Hey! I can't help it if that monotone he uses always puts me to sleep!" Akane smiled; the teacher was pretty dull, and also, Ranma looked cute when he was asleep. "Oh, come on. We have a lot of material to cover. We should get to work." As they started to head upstairs, Kasumi decided to be her usual industrious self. "Do you want me to bring you two snacks for while you study?" Akane shook her head, "No thank you, I'll just hold off until dinner." Ranma, on the other hand, said, "Sure, Kasumi, I'd like a snack." Akane rolled her eyes theatrically. "Always thinking with your stomach, right, Ranma?" The good-natured bickering continued as they headed towards her room. Soon, Ranma was seated at the desk, trying to learn the material, as Akane looked over his shoulder, and corrected his mistakes. Eventually, the sound of their voices woke up a small sleeping pig, who poked his head out from under the pillow with a "bwee?". Inwardly, Ranma groaned. Things had been going so well, and Ryoga would just have to show up and screw things up. Well, this would be his last chance, as soon his curse would be revealed.  
  
"Yo, 'Kane?" He asked the girl, who was now fawning over her pet pig. "If he was sleepin' in yer bed, he musta been cold. Maybe ya' should give him a nice, warm, bath." She looked suspicious. "Ranma, you've never suggested anything nice for P-Chan before. Why are you now?" Fortunately, he had prepared an excuse for just this situation. "I don't really like 'im, but you're pretty attached to him, so I figure doin' somethin' nice for him is like doin' somethin' for you." Of course, Akane nearly melted at hearing this, but, instead, beamed, and squeezed p-chan a little tighter. Ryoga, for his part, was shocked; Ranma was actually being NICE to Akane. Something was horribly wrong; Ranma was an unloving, undeserving jerk; he couldn't be nice to Akane! Then he realized just what Ranma had suggested, and his eyes widened. After all this time, Ranma was going to reveal his curse! 'Ranma, I'll get you for this! This is all your fault!' He tried to say, but, of course, it came out "bwee!" Ranma smiled, "See, Akane? Now, you should go give him his bath before he catches a cold." She nodded, and ran downstairs. However, once in the bathroom, she noticed that all the hot water taps had a sign reading "Do not use" on them. Dissapointed, she went to the kitchen. "Kasumi, why can't we use the hot water?" she asked. "Oh my, I completely forgot to tell you and Ranma!" Kasumi fretted. "The main pipe from the hot water heater sprang a leak this morning, and so the water is turned off until the plumber can get here, tomorrow."  
  
Akane's face fell. "Why, did you need hot water for something?" Kasumi asked. "Well, P-chan seemed a little cold, so I thought I'd give him a warm bath, to warm him up." Akane replied. "I see. Why don't you use this kettle I had on the stove. I was going to make some tea for father and uncle Saotome, but I can wait until I heat up another kettle." "All right, sis, thanks!" Akane replied, as she grabbed the kettle and swept out of the kitchen. As she reached the bathroom, she put p-chan in the bottom of the empty furo, where, in spite of his efforts, he couldn't get out. Just as she was about to add the hot water, though, the wall bulged inwards, and crumbled, as Shampoo bounced in. However, this distraction gave p-chan the chance he needed, and he scrambled out of the furo. Attempting to run through the newly-made hole, he pulled a Ryoga, as usual, and ran headfirst into the wall, cracking the cold water pipe, and spraying water throughout the room. By the time Akane managed to shut off the water, however, he was gone, leaving neko-shampoo struggling to get out of her suddenly oversized and soaking wet clothing.  
  
Sighing, Akane poured some of the contents of the kettle onto the cat, and, a moment later, Shampoo was standing there once more, readjusting her clothes. "Why are you here, Shampoo?" Akane asked, dully. "To take Airen on date, of course!" The amazon replied. "And why didn't you break through the living room wall, like usual?" Akane continued. "Nice girl ask Shampoo not to damage living room anymore." Shampoo replied, puzzled. "Okay, that's all I wanted to know." Akane said, and stepped aside. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Shampoo started to walk by her, but stopped when Akane spoke again. "Oh, one more thing, Shampoo..." Just then, Akane grabbed the bucket, which had collected some of the water from the broken pipe, and splashed Shampoo once more. Before the now-feline female could react, Akane grabbed her by the scruff of her neck, and flung her out the hole she had made, yelling, "Get lost, you shameless amazon slut!"  
  
She grabbed a towel on her way out, and stormed back upstairs, after informing Kasumi that there was some new damage to the bathroom. Ranma saw her storm into her room, where he had been studying, and silently congratulated himself. However, not wanting to mess up how nicely things had been going, he said, "Oi, Akane, what happened?" She glared at him for a moment, just in case it was, somehow, his fault, and replied, Shampoo decided to come in through the bathroom wall, and now p-chan is missing again." Then she noticed him hitting his head against the desk.   
  
"What's the matter, Ranma?" She asked suspiciously. 'He better not be upset that I caught Shampoo trying to get him out on a date!' She thought, preparing to hurt Ranma severely. "Oh, it's just that Shampoo seems to live to make my life more difficult." he prevaricated. "I just wish she'd leave me alone, sometimes." Her temper rising, she asked, "And what about the rest of the time, Ranma?" Not noticing her anger, he replied offhand, "Well, she's not so bad to have around as a friend, sometimes..." Of course, she hadn't listened to anything past "she's not so bad to have around", before her temper boiled over, and she lashed out. "Fine, then, why don't you go VISIT HER THEN!" She yelled as she punched him out the window. As he unintentionally flew over the block, a cry could be heard; "What'd I dooooooooo?"  
  
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Author's Notes: Yay! Another chapter done! *poing* *poing* *poing* Took me long enough, ne? Well, I can't start on the next chapter right now, having to go to work in a couple minutes, but, hopefully, I'll either start it at work tonight, or sometime tomorrow. So, in exchange, all you people who read, please review. I want opinions, suggestions, corrections, whatever, for any of my chapters of this story, or, for that matter, any of my stories. 'Kay? An' I'll try and get some writing done.  
  
As for what's coming next... I have no idea! But, never fear, I'll come up with something.^_^ 


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